Craig Buntin

Craig Buntin (born May 27, 1980) is a Canadian former pair skater. He is the co-founder and CEO of Sportlogiq, an AI-powered sports analytics company based in Montreal, Quebec. With former partner Meagan Duhamel, he is the 2009 Canadian silver medallist, the 2008 & 2010 Canadian bronze medallist, and the 2010 Four Continents bronze medallist. With Valérie Marcoux, he represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where they placed 11th.

Craig Buntin
Duhamel and Buntin in 2008
Personal information
Country represented	Canada
Born	(1980-05-27) May 27, 1980 North Vancouver, British Columbia
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Partner	Meagan Duhamel, Valérie Marcoux, Elizabeth Putnam, Virginia Toombs, Marie Laurier, Chantal Poirier, Angela Kang, Chantal Chailler, Sarah Robinson
Coach	Richard Gauthier, Manon Perron, Bruno Marcotte, Sylvie Fullum, Paul Wirtz, Jamie McGrigor, Shannon Allison, Karen Bond
Choreographer	Julie Marcotte
Skating club	CPA St. Leonard
Training locations	St-Leonard, Quebec
Retired	July 2010
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	169.61 2008 Worlds
Short program	62.08 2009 Four Continents
Free skate	109.60 2008 Worlds
Medal record Representing  Canada Figure skating: Pairs Four Continents Championships 2010 Jeonju Pairs 2004 Hamilton Pairs

Personal life

Buntin was born on May 27, 1980 in North Vancouver, British Columbia.[1] He studied for his MBA degree at McGill University.[2] He married in August 2011.[3]

Career

Early partnerships

Buntin won the 2000 Canadian junior national title with Chantal Poirier. He teamed up with Valérie Marcoux in 2002. The pair won gold at three consecutive Canadian Championships, from 2004 to 2006. Their partnership ended in early 2007 when Valérie Marcoux decided to retire from competition.[4]

Partnership with Duhamel

In June 2007, Buntin teamed up with Meagan Duhamel.[5] At their first competition together, the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy, they won the silver medal. In January 2008, the pair won the bronze medal at the Canadian Nationals but during the exhibition Buntin injured his shoulder, with which he had previous problems, as a result of a timing issue.[5] They missed the Four Continents but competed at the 2008 World Championships in Sweden on March 19, 2008, despite the shoulder still being a problem, and finished 6th. However, their participation aggravated Buntin's injury, tearing the rotator cuff, the labrum and three tendons; he had surgery in April and the recovery took seven to eight months.[5] They could not practice lifts until two weeks before 2008 Skate America so they worked on adding variations to their elements, such as a spread eagle entrance into a lift and a death spiral with the opposite hand.[5] In November 2008, during the long program at the Trophée Eric Bompard, Duhamel accidentally sliced Buntin's hand a minute into the program on a move right after their side-by-side toe loop jumps and blood dripped on the ice; the pair stopped to get his hand bandaged and resumed the program to win the bronze medal.[6] Duhamel and Buntin were the first pair to successfully land a throw triple lutz in competition.[5]

In July 2010, Buntin announced his retirement from competitive figure skating.[2]

Programs

With Duhamel

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2009–2010 [1]	Hotel California by Eagles	Selection of music by Pierre Porte
2008–2009 [5][7]	4 Lamentations	Tosca by Giacomo Puccini	The Story by Brandi Carlile
2007–2008 [4][8]	Best Latin Tango by Rodrigo Buertillo	Tosca by Giacomo Puccini	Bolero from Moulin Rouge!

With Marcoux

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2006–2007 [9]	Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White	L'Amour by Osvaldo Montes
2005–2006 [10]	Big Spender (from Sweet Charity)	Our Song by Paul Kunigis
2004–2005 [11][12]	Fever Jump, Jive and Wail	Moscow Nights Meadowlands Korobushka by Bond	All Shook Up sung by Billy Joel
2003–2004 [13]	Caravan by Juan Tizol, Duke Ellington	Rockin' Gypsies by Willie and Lobo Cancion Triste by Jesse Cook

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Duhamel

International[14]
Event	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10
World Championships	6th	8th
Four Continents Champ.		4th	3rd
GP Trophée Bompard		3rd
GP Cup of China			4th
GP Skate America		4th	WD
GP Skate Canada	6th
Nebelhorn Trophy	2nd
National[14]
Canadian Championships	3rd	2nd	3rd
WD = Withdrew

With Marcoux

International[15]
Event	02–03	03–04	04–05	05–06	06–07
Winter Olympics				11th
World Champ.		9th	9th	5th	6th
Four Continents Champ.		3rd			4th
GP Final					5th
GP Cup of China			3rd		4th
GP Cup of Russia	7th	4th
GP NHK Trophy					3rd
GP Skate Canada	6th	7th	5th	3rd	3rd
GP Trophée Bompard				3rd
Bofrost Cup on Ice		1st	2nd
Nebelhorn Trophy	1st
National[15]
Canadian Champ.	4th	1st	1st	1st	2nd

Early career

Partner	Chailler		Kang	Poirier[16]	Laurier
International
Event	96–97	97–98	98–99	99–00	00–01
World Junior Champ.				8th
JGP Final				6th
JGP Canada				1st
JGP Japan				2nd
National
Canadian Champ.	14th N	8th N	11th N	1st J	6th J
N = Novice level, J = Junior level

References

1. "Meagan DUHAMEL / Craig BUNTIN: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on September 13, 2011.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
2. "Three-time Canadian Champion Craig Buntin retires from competitive figure skating". Skate Canada. SkateBuzz. July 13, 2010. Archived from the original on September 16, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
3. Brannen, Sarah S.; Meekins, Drew (September 8, 2011). "The Inside Edge: Catching Up with Emily Hughes". Icenetwork. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
4. Mittan, Barry (January 30, 2008). "Lucky Seven for Duhamel and Buntin?". SkateToday. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
5. Mittan, J. Barry (May 17, 2009). "Duhamel and Buntin Close to the Top". GoldenSkate. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
6. Smith, Beverley (November 15, 2008). "Bad cut can't stop Buntin". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
7. "Meagan DUHAMEL / Craig BUNTIN: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
8. "Meagan DUHAMEL / Craig BUNTIN: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
9. "Valerie MARCOUX / Craig BUNTIN: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 2, 2007.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
10. "Valerie MARCOUX / Craig BUNTIN: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 23, 2006.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
11. "Valerie MARCOUX / Craig BUNTIN: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
12. Mittan, Barry (January 9, 2005). "Marcoux and Buntin Hope to Keep on Top". Skate Today.
13. "Valerie MARCOUX / Craig BUNTIN: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 15, 2004.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
14. "Competition Results: Meagan DUHAMEL / Craig BUNTIN". International Skating Union.
15. "Valerie MARCOUX / Craig BUNTIN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017.
16. "Chantal POIRIER / Craig BUNTIN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017.

External links

• Skate Canada Profile
• Meagan Duhamel / Craig Buntin at the International Skating Union
• Valerie Marcoux / Craig Buntin at the International Skating Union